This invention relates to methods of transferring multiple types of heterogeneous data from a first computer to a second computer such that the multiple data types have meaningful interrelationships and are in respective formats that are native to the first computer but are foreign to the second computer.
In the prior art, many different models of digital computers have been designed and sold by dozens of corporations without any common standards on the computer's internal operation. Consequently, a computer from any one corporation usually is completely incompatible with the computers from all other corporations.
For example, the X86 personal computers from Intel Corporation and the A-Series computers from Unisys Corporation execute respective sets of object code instructions which are totally different from each other. Thus any program which is a compilation of A-Series object code instructions cannot be executed directly by an X86 computer; and, any program which is a compilation of X86 object code instructions cannot be executed directly by an A-Series computer.
Similarly, the X86 personal computers and the A-Series computers operate on respective types of heterogeneous data which have formats that are native to one computer but completely foreign to the other computer. For example, the X86 "word integer," and the X86 "packed decimal" numbers, and the X86 "single precision" numbers have respective formats which are not recognized by the A-Series computers.
Due to the above differences, a major problem of incompatibility arises when a computer which is designed by one corporation attempts to send multiple types of heterogeneous data, with meaningful interrelationships, over a communication channel to a computer which is designed by another corporation. For example, if an X86 computer sends a series of X86 alphabetic characters and X86 decimal digits to an A-Series computer, those characters and digits will not even be recognized by the A-Series computer. Further, no universal mechanism exists whereby the X86 computer can attach various meaningful interrelationships between the characters and the digits that it sends to be A-Series computer.
What is needed, and what is lacking in the prior art, is a universal method of transferring multiple types of heterogeneous data from one computer to any other incompatible computer such that the receiving computer can recognize each of the different data types and can also recognize various meaningful relationships between the data types. Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a novel method which fulfills the above need.